Chevron Phillips approves new Texas cracker, awards EPC contracts

A joint venture with JGC and Fluor will build the ethane cracker in Baytown, while a partnership of Technip and Zachry Industrial will work to develop the new polyethylene units in Old Ocean.

Keywords:

Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) said Thursday that it
received board approval to execute its planned US Gulf Coast
(USGC) petrochemicals project, first
announced in March 2011.

Additionally, CPChem awarded
an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to a
joint venture between JGC and Fluor for the 1.5 million tpy
(3.3 billion lb/year) ethane cracker portion of the project.

Meanwhile, the company also awarded an EPC contract to Gulf
Coast Partners, a partnership between Technip and Zachry
Industrial, to execute the two new polyethylene facilities, each with a capacity of
500,000 tpy (1.1 billion lb/year).

We remain in the
first mover position as we take another critical step in
executing a project that will benefit our
customers, suppliers, local communities and existing and future
employees, said Pete Cella, CEO of Chevron Phillips
Chemical.

We are able to realize this important milestone thanks
to continued strong growth in demand for our products, shale
resource development in the US, and the tremendous support of
our owners, he added.

The world-scale polyethylene units will be capable of
producing a wide variety of high and linear-low-density
polyethylene products, including bimodal and metallocene-based
polyethylene polymers.

In addition to the bimodal and linear-low-density products,
the flexibility of these units will allow for growth of current
blow molding, injection molding and film grades offered by
Chevron Phillips Chemical, according to the company.

Sold under the long-established brand names of
Marlex resins for rigid packaging and extrusion
applications and Marflex resins for film and extrusion
coating applications, the new production facilities will be complemented by
an expansion of Chevron Phillips
Chemicals technical services capability, offering
sustainable solutions in a wide variety of applications ranging
from flexible packaging to high performance pressure pipe.

The ethane cracker will be built at Chevron Phillips
Chemicals Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas. The two
polyethylene units will be built at a site in Old Ocean, Texas,
near the companys existing Sweeny plant.

Project works are expected to commence with construction in early 2014, creating
400 long-term direct jobs and 10,000 engineering and
construction jobs.

Chevron Phillips noted that site preparation is in progress,
critical equipment for the project has been ordered and expansion of the supporting
infrastructure has commenced. Additionally, the company has
executed a contract for the fabrication of rail cars needed to
supply product to customers.

Overall, this project aligns perfectly with
Chevron Phillips Chemicals strategy of profitable growth,
competitive advantage, operational excellence and
organizational capability, and we look forward to a successful
and safe startup in 2017, said Cella.

In August 2013, CPChem announced that it had received Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) greenhouse gas permit for the cracker and the required
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) air
permits necessary to begin construction of both facilities.

Have your say

All comments are subject to editorial review.
All fields are compulsory.